


Finding Holtzmann

by live_from_new_york



Series: Stuck on You [2]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Anxiety, Established Relationship, F/F, Happy Ending, Humor, Science Girlfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 23:50:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7661986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/live_from_new_york/pseuds/live_from_new_york
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holtzmann's gone, and Erin already checked the refrigerator, she's not in there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Holtzmann

**Author's Note:**

> This is very much not a serious fanfiction. No drama, just some light hearted fluff It is in the same universe as The Holtzmann-Gilbert reaction, but can definitely be read on it's own.

If you had told Erin Gilbert two months ago that dating Holtzmann would be easy, she would have laughed in your face. 

If you told her that now? She would still laugh in your face.

It's been two hours since she last saw Holtzmann, which normally would be fine- if it was anyone else. And if Holtzmann hadn't been mysteriously vanishing for the last 3 days.

It was strange- one minute, Holtzmann was there, burning microwave popcorn and loudly humming the Darth Vader theme, and the next she was gone. For hours.

Erin would be lying if she said she wasn't getting a tad bit frustrated with her girlfriends behavior. Would it be that hard for Holtz to at least check in or say hi? Or maybe explain what's going on? 

Today started no different than any other, and Erin knows she should be focusing on cataloging their work, but it's been two full hours, and she's on the brink of insanity- between both the mundane work and Holtzmann's disappearing act.

And everything had been going so well!

In fact, she'd spent the last two months in what felt like a perpetual daydream (despite Holtzmann pinching her, "just so you know I'm real, babe.") 

They'd spent nights together at Erin's apartments watching movies or playing games (usually throwing board game pieces at each other) and Erin to this day still blushed at the thought of what they always did after. 

But the last time Holtzmann had come over was... Tuesday, and come to think of it, Erin has really seen her at all since then. Abby and Patty had been just as scarce. God, what was this? Avoid Erin week?

She felt her face flush as she dealt with the embarrassment of that idea. Where had everyone gone?

' _This is ridiculous, I don't have to just let this slide.'_

Walking into the next room, Erin once again tried calling out her girlfriends name into the empty kitchen. To no avail.

"Holtzmann, are you here? I can see the Ecto-1 parked out front." She calls again.  _If I keep this up,_ Erin thinks,  _I'm going to start to sound cra_ zy.

Just then Erin hears it. A small shaking. She hears a noise that leaves her stomach sick, because oh God, Abby's talked about this, and now she's going to be possessed and-

And then the oven door pops open, suddenly and with a loud bang. There is Holtzmann, curled up into a ball, squished inside their oven because yes, that's what people normally find their girlfriends doing on a Friday night. 

"Holtzmann! What in the everliving-" 

Erin's exclamations are cut off by a loud "Shhhhhh!" and Holtzmann somehow pulls the oven door shut again. 

Bewildered, bemused, and more than a little frustrated, Erin stalks over to the oven and squats down to look inside it. 

"Holtzmann, what are you doing in our oven?"

The muffled noises that come through the oven door sound more like an adult from a Charlie Brown Christmas Special than Erin can handle, and she tries as hard as she can to avoid rolling her eyes. 

"This is incredibly dangerous, and I don't condone it." Erin says sternly to the oven door. Realizing this is getting her nowhere, Erin puts a hand to her temple in exasperation, and just leaves. 

 

The next morning, Erin reluctantly admits to herself that nothing appears to have changed since the night before. Patty was here earlier, but now, just like yesterday, she, Abby, and Holtzmann are nowhere to be found. And the silence of the firehouse is drowning Erin in her little anxieties. She knows her friends love her, they do, they told her so. But- then again, that was a few days ago. Erin shakes her head to clear it. These thoughts, these spiraling thoughts- they were getting her nowhere. Abby loves her. Patty loves her. Holtzmann  _loves_  her. She was being irrational, and it had to stop. 

But that was easier said than done, because Erin's ears hummed, and she couldn't stop the overreaction. She very clearly was not going to be getting any work done today (and evidently neither was anyone else.) so Erin packed her papers into her purse and stood up to leave. As she did-there it was. That same noise from last night. Upon her inspection however, the oven turned up empty.

 

Rolling her eyes, Erin began a half-hearted search through their kitchen. The oven was still empty, and the refrigerator was distinctly void of her girlfriend's slight frame. 

 _What am I thinking? Why would Holtzmann be in the refrigerator?_ Erin asked herself,  _But then again, I asked myself that same question yesterday about the oven._

The rustling noise hadn't stopped yet, and it was like she was playing some juvenile game of Hot or Cold throughout the firehouse kitchen. Then, just as jarring as it had been yesterday, a cabinet popped open and two boxes of pop-tarts came tumbling off of the top shelf. 

"Holtzmann! What are you doing up there?" Erin's heart is racing, and frankly for a ghostbuster, she shouldn't have been so easily startled. 

There, on the highest shelf of the top cupboard, crouched an even more compact than yesterday Holtzmann. Her eyes glowed with mischief, and Erin did  _not_  want to know how she had gotten into the cupboard on her own. 

"Has Kevin come in yet today?" Holtzmann responds, her eyes darting around the kitchen quickly.

"What? Has Kevin- no, no one's come in. Least of all Kevin. God, what is going on with everyone lately?" Erin huffs, crossing her arms. 

Holtzmann knows this look, and begins slinking her way out from the top shelf. It's about as far from graceful as you can get, and Erin winces when Holtzmann foot lands on the toaster, and her head hits loudly against the corner edge of the cupboard door.

"Shit. Okay- that smarts." her hand rubs over her curls, and her face scrunches up in pain.

"Let me grab you some ice," Erin sighs, heading towards the freezer. "You really should be more careful. You know that."

"I know nothing of the sort."

"Everything is such a joke to you, isn't it?" Holtzmann winced at Erin's tone as the ice pack was put over her head.  
"Well, this is more of a game than a joke, but-"  
"You know what? Forget it, it's fine. Forget I ever asked." 

Holtzmann frowned when she heard the dismissed air to Erin's voice. Lately, Erin had seemed to have endless patience for Holtzmann's shenanigans, so this was a new (and not so pleasing) development. Her mind whirled to try and figure out what had caused her girlfriend to reach her last straw- had she left a mess at Erin's apartment? Was something going wrong in their research? 

"Is this about me stealing your hair dryer to build a prototype with last week?"  
"That was you? Holtzmann, I- no. No, this is not about the hair dryer- although it might be now."

"Did I say something that upset you?" Holtzmann said quietly, using one hand to push her glasses up her nose and other to reach out to Erin. 

"More like what you didn't say," Erin mumbled walking away from the counter Holtzmann was leaning against. 

"Erin, you know my ear is still shot, I can't understand a word you're saying, babe. Please, talk to me."

The sincerity in Holtzmann's voice brought Erin to a stop in the doorway. What was she thinking? Holtzmann hadn't  _done_ anything. She deserved a chance to at least know why Erin was upset with her, that much was fair. 

"I guess," Erin sighed heavily, trying to align her thoughts, "I guess I'm just frustrated. I've missed you. I can never seem to find you anywhere, and I couldn't tell what I had done wrong. I guess I was just being paranoid. I don't know."

"Erin, what do you mean? I've barely left the firehouse all week. None of us have."

"But- but you keep disappearing, I can never seem to keep track of you for more than a few minutes at a time. Why won't you even just talk to me?"

"Is this about Kevin?"  
"Kevin- why? Why would this be about him?" Erin's face twisted into something akin to bitter confusion, "You know I don't like him, we've talked about this, you said you understood-"

"Erin, Erin listen. I didn't mean it like that. Is this about Kevin's hide and seek tournament we've all been practicing for?  

"I... I don't understand." Erin said, trying to pull a defensive stance before the blush could set in.

"Oh Erin. Sweet beautiful dear darling Erin. Erin who  _never_  listens to me talk apparently." Holtzmann said with a loving smirk. "I told you about this on Tuesday, don't you remember? After we were done doin' the do?"

"Holtzmann!" Erin sputtered, turning away from her.

Holtzmann rolled her eyes lovingly, grabbing Erin's wrist to whip her back around. Nose to nose, Holtzmann raised her eyebrows, "What would you rather I say? We got freaky? Did the nasty? Doesn't change the fact that we did it."

"Well, I know that," she breathes sotto voce, "I just don't need everyone else to." Her eyes darted towards the kitchen door as if someone had the gall to eavesdrop. 

"Tuesday night. I pushed you up against a wall, we made out, we-  _did the do_ ," Holtzmann's voice drops comically low and Erin puffs out her cheeks, "And after, while we were laying there, I told you- 'Kev asked me and Abby to help him practice for hide-and-seek now that his team's advanced from semi's. If all goes according to plan, no one will be seeing me again.'"

Despite her embarrassment, Erin couldn't stop the giggle that escaped at Holtzmann's terrible impression of herself. 

"Oh God, Holtz." Erin said with a small visibly forced smile. Understanding spread over her face, and she dropped her head to her hands, "I can't believe I made such a big deal out of this, I should've just trusted you. I'm so embarrassed." Erin's smile faded, leaving behind traces of shame and and embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. Really, I am."

Holtzmann smiled, "Ain't no thang, lover girl." 

And Erin was back with a groan and an eye roll, "I told you, stop saying that, it's  _weird._ "

"What do you say? Apology take-out? Reparation cuddles? Hot and sweaty forgiveness sex?"

"Oh my God." A sharp pivot and shake of her head later, Erin was gone, leaving Holtzmann calling loudly after her.   
"Can I take that as a yes?" 


End file.
